Yun: meaning “governor, official”, origin & popularity

Meaning & origin

What it means

Yun goes back to Korean 윤 (Yun), meaning “governor, official.”

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Where it comes from

Yun comes from Korean.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How it developed

In English usage, Yun as a surname developed from 妘.

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1975. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Yun through the years

Babies since 1880: 104; 26 boys · 78 girls
Most popular year: 1985; 15 babies
2025: 0; Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20: —; Too few births to compare

Boys Girls

Yun in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1975–2025, per million births of each sex. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 5 in 2016. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 7,480 as a first name in 2020; 9,513 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Yun’s family of names

In English usage, Yun as a surname developed from the Chinese form 妘. In English usage, Yun as a surname has a related form in YOON. In English usage, Yun as a surname has a related form in YOON.

Walk Yun’s family in the name graph

Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Around the world

Yun has relatives in 5 languages. Lines run from its Korean roots to each of them.

Koreanwhere Yun comes from · 2 names

Each dot marks where a language is rooted, not where people with the name live today. Bigger dots hold more names. Dots on the border stand for languages further away. Language locations from Glottolog (CC BY 4.0); map from Natural Earth.

Nicknames & forms 2

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Spellings & scripts 3

The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.

Across languages 12

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

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People named Yun

Characters named Yun: Li Yun (Water Margin character).

Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.

Similar names

If you love Yun, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Korean

Sibling ideas

Names that share Yun’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Yun

A sister for Yun

Your shortlist

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